


A Shortage, and Later an Abundance, of Teddy Bears

by SecretlyAMushroom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Harry is Surrounded by Good Bros, I Just Really Like Soft HP Stories Okay, M/M, Teddy Bears, The Dursleys' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23418517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretlyAMushroom/pseuds/SecretlyAMushroom
Summary: A series of people finding out how plush-toy-deprived the Boy Who Lived is, and immediately deciding that it’s unacceptable.Art included!This is my first fic, so feel free to give constructive criticism :)
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 28
Kudos: 451





	A Shortage, and Later an Abundance, of Teddy Bears

Ron and Hermione are the first ones to find out. The three of them are seated in the common room sharing a box of treacle tart, and Ron’s repeating, for the umpteenth time, how Fred had turned his beloved teddy bear into a spider, thereby propagating Ron’s lasting arachnophobia. Harry has noticed, though, that every time he told the story, the size of the accursed arachnid would drastically increase. Currently Ron was demonstrating how a wardrobe-sized spider could have fit into his arms, to an understandably skeptical Hermione. He's starting to flounder a little when Harry is suddenly struck by a question that he hadn’t thought to voice during the last few dramatic retellings of the story.

His bewildered “Wait, what exactly is a teddy bear?” is met with a beat of silence.

It took exactly four seconds for his friends to realise he really had no idea what a teddy bear was; he could see the moment it registered on their faces. Hermione’s face goes through an impressive range of emotions where it changes from confused, to shocked, to some mix of furious and physically pained. Ron just looks flabbergasted.

“What do you mean, what’s a teddy bear-” Ron starts, but before he can continue, Hermione swipes her wand through the air and transfigures a nearby couch cushion into a soft-looking toy. She passes it to Harry, who gingerly accepts the small plush bear, looking at it in confusion.

“It’s...soft.” Ron grinned, “well that’s the whole point, mate. They’re made for cuddling.”

“We’ll get you a proper one for your next birthday”, Hermione quietly promises.

Harry looks up and sees her troubled frown, and grows steadily more confused. “That’s alright, you don’t have to; it’d be hard to hide anyway.”

Hermione seems like she was about to say something, but quickly thought better of it. The conversation gradually picks up again; they had bigger things to worry about than plush bears.

____________________

Fred and George’s joke shop is quite possibly the most incredible thing Harry’s ever seen. Virtually a prankster’s paradise, the shop sold everything that Ron, Harry and Hermione found spectacular, fascinating, and mildly dubious respectively.

While Ron wanders off in search of more additions to his prank product collection, dragging a reluctant Hermione behind him, Harry stays near the entrance, looking around cautiously (he was sure at least half of the things around him were prone to exploding). His attention is immediately caught by what seems to be sentient balls of hair, and he wanders over to check them out.

A few minutes later, Fred and George Weasley find the potential saviour of the Wizarding World covered in roughly two dozen Pygmy Puffs, with a look of what can only be described as unbridled joy on his face.

“I see you’ve met the newest additions to our Witch Weekly collection, Harry”, chuckles Fred.

“They’re brilliant! What’re they called?”

George, with great amusement, starts plucking the furballs out of Harry’s hair, “Pygmy Puffs. Like powder puffs, but alive and...cuddlier. They’re the best magical plush toys around!”

“I actually think I might want one…”

“Go ahead, like we said before, you get anything here for free.”

“Thanks! I’ve never really had a ‘plush toy’ before; I see why folks like them.” It's a casual comment, and Harry doesn't notice the slight pause that goes between the two brothers.

He also misses the meaningful glance Fred sends George before turning toward Harry and saying, “You know what, we've actually got a special edition one in the back; I’ll get it for you.” Harry looks up to respond, but Fred’s already disappeared behind a curtain that leads to the back room.

When Ron and Hermione notice Harry carrying both a large golden Pygmy Puff, and a slightly overstuffed teddy bear on the way back to the Burrow, they don’t comment on it.

____________________

Molly Weasley has never been one to do things halfway, and this is especially true when it comes to Christmas presents.

She packs each of her children’s boxes with baked goods, mincemeat, a few different trinkets, and the traditional weasley jumpers. By now, she considers Harry to be one of her own, and with him having just saved her husband’s life, she’s more than generous when arranging his present. At the last moment, she remembers Ron making an offhand comment about Harry never having gotten any toys when he was younger. She glances at the clock; it’s too late to go to any store now….she’ll just have to make it by hand then.

Harry seems a bit taken aback by the small, red and gold knitted teddy bear he pulls out of his box the next day at Christmas dinner, but he accepts it with an abashed but grateful smile at Molly.

____________________

He reconnects with Draco Malfoy three years after the war. The other wizard had effectively gone into hiding, along with his parents. According to rumor, they had spent the time in a villa in France, so imagine his surprise when he spots a familiar head of white-blond hair on a winter afternoon in Hogsmeade.

After much hesitation (and two pints of butterbeer), Draco begrudgingly agrees to put the past behind them and take a shot at being friends. It takes a month for Draco to start calling him Harry, and not Potter. It takes four more for them to get into a shaky, tentative relationship.

Now, sitting down next to him at the Burrow and unwrapping his birthday presents, Harry feels warm and happy in a way he didn’t think he’d ever be. It’s when they head back to Grimmauld Place for a late night drink, though, that he receives his last present. Sitting in one corner of his living room is what is quite possibly the biggest teddy bear he has ever seen.

Draco will later describe to an eagerly listening audience of Weasleys that Harry’s smile was blinding enough to ‘set the entire bloody apartment on fire’, and to this day Harry Potter allegedly has his morning coffee seated in the warm embrace of a six-foot-tall teddy bear.

**Author's Note:**

> The first part takes place some time in their second year, I guess. The next two parts take place in their fifth year, when they visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and on the Christmas after Harry saves Arthur's life.


End file.
